Movies I saw in 2010

James / December 22nd, 2010

Here’s all the current movies I remember seeing in 2010. I decided to split them up between films I’ve seen in the THEATER and films I’ve seen on DVD, because I think that affects the viewing experience.

Come to think of it, it seems more than half the movies that came out in 2010 are already out on DVD! That may be the reason why I don’t rush out to see new movies too often. In a few months, you can just buy the DVD for about the same cost! I remember on VHS, it would sometimes take a whole year.

Most of these movies are not fresh in my mind. After all, I didn’t see them with the intent of critiquing them. I just watch movies to enjoy them. So it was mentally exhausting to try and remember them all and say something about all of them in one sitting. Took me several hours. Well, here’s my comments, I tried to weigh some positives and negatives for each, so take it for what it’s worth.

WATCHED IN THEATERS

The Wolfman

Remake of the 1941 classic that defined the werewolf genre.POSITIVE: Spooky scenery. Great moody atmosphere that fits in with the classics. Great transformation scenes, but nothing groundbreaking.NEGATIVE: I did not sympathize with the character Larry Talbot in the same way I did with the original. Benecio Del Toro is not as charming and likeable as Lon Chaney jr. In the original, it felt sad and tragic that he became a werewolf. This time, I wasn’t as emotionally involved.See the video review here with Mike and I.

Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton’s retelling of the classic story. Wait a minute. It’s not a retelling. It’s a sequel?POSITIVE: Visually stimulating.NEGATIVE: Doesn’t have the heart of the original story. It somehow turns into an action-fest about slaying the jabberwocky. Underwhelming.

Iron Man 2

Tony Stark is pushed by the government to share his Iron Man technology and is faced with a new deadly villain out for revenge.POSITIVE: Robert Downey Jr and Mickey Rourke are compelling as always. And stuff blows up!
NEGATIVE:Like most sequels, not as good as the first. The ending is a bit rushed.Needs more AC/DC. Would the song “War Machine” be too appropriate?

Inception

Christopher Nolan fucks you in the mind again with this cerebral film about dream invasion.POSITIVE: The multiple dreams within dreams is really creative. It plays with time in ways that’s his best since Memento. Worthy of being shown in film classes for years to come.NEGATIVE: The beginning is really talky, but they needed all the explanation to set up the rules. Then when it gets started… wow! Not much negative to say. It’s just really confusing and needs to be seen more than once.

The Expendables

Sylvester Stallone gets together a shitload of action stars and gives you a big kick in the ass like the good ol’ days. POSITIVE: Great Blend of action and humor. Reminiscent of 80’s action films. NEGATIVE: Some digital blood and modern shaky camera/fast editing take away a bit from the authenticity. Don’t expect anything more than a dumb action flick.See a longer text review here.

Machete

Originally a fake trailer from Robert Rodriguez’s half of the “Grindhouse” (2007) double feature, Machete is now an actual movie. Danny Trejo hacks up some racist Americans and every Mexican stereotype in the book is used. A “Mexploitation” film by every definition of the word.POSITIVE: Lives up to the original trailer and cleverly utilizes all the footage from it. Violent and entertaining ode to the grindhouse era.NEGATIVE: It’s meant to be FUN and not taken too seriously, yet it becomes overly political.

The Social Network

Fast-paced drama about the creation of FaceBook and the legal disputes involved.POSITIVE: I’m the only person in the world who has never once personally logged into Facebook, yet I still found the movie interesting.NEGATIVE: Jesse Eisenberg speaks like a robot the whole time, a million words per minute, without ever stopping to breathe. I understand Mark Zuckerberg is intelligent. I get it. But Eisenberg’s portrayal sounded too inhuman to me, like a computer.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1

I’m not such a big Harry Potter fan and haven’t read the books, but still appreciate them.POSITIVE: From what I hear, splitting the book into two movies was a good idea because they were able to fit more details in.NEGATIVE: The projector burned out during a pivotal scene. Wasn’t the movie’s fault, but that sure sucked.

Shutter Island

Leonardo Decaprio investigates the disappearance of an inmate from an asylum on an island.POSITIVE: Was much better than I thought. In fact, I really liked it. Good suspense.NEGATIVE: Some people may not like the ending.

Cop Out

Two cops are searching for a rare stolen baseball card in this cliche buddy action comedy from Kevin Smith.POSITIVE: Well, it has Bruce Willis. And there is a funny Die Hard reference in there.NEGATIVE: Tracy Morgan screams the whole time! Extremely annoying. The brilliance in Kevin Smith’s films is not present here. Whatever. No harm, no foul. I forget and move on.

Hot Tub Time Machine

Time traveling and Crispin Glover. Reminds me of something.POSITIVE: A stupid idea that turns out a little funnier than expected.NEGATIVE: I think my brain filtered out the negative because it was so downright stupid. Enjoy it for what it is.

Kick Ass

Young kids dress as super heroes and beat each other senseless and bloody.POSITIVE: Damn! The fighting scenes were jaw dropping. Way more violent than expected.NEGATIVE: Sometimes it might have gotten a bit too violent. When Nicholas Cage is tortured, for example. More disturbing than many horror films. Other than that, not much negative to say. Fun movie.

Death at a Funeral

Family secrets have it out at a funeral where everything goes wrong. Wait. It’s a remake of a movie that’s only 3 years old??POSITIVE: I haven’t seen the original version, but this was mildly amusing. I didn’t expect much.NEGATIVE: A lot of stale jokes.

Nightmare on Elm Street

Another tiresome remake of a an already great slasher classic.POSITIVE: Doesn’t bullshit around. Gets straight to the horror and never lets up.NEGATIVE: In the end, I still felt there was no point to it all. It’s nice to see another Freddy movie but doesn’t have anything fresh to add.

Survival of the Dead

George Romero, master of the undead, returns to the genre he created, beginning with Night of the Living Dead (1968). Since then, he’s made one zombie film a decade. Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985). Each fantastic in their own right. 20 years since the dead trilogy, he revitalized the genre with Land of the Dead (2005) and since then, he’s made two more. Diary of the Dead (2007). Technically Survival of the Dead was a 2009 film, but was only playing in festivals.POSITIVE: Solid horror.NEGATIVE: Not as relevant or memorable as previous dead films. I’m glad to see Romero still making films, more than ever, but I’d be happy to see him make other kinds of horror films. I’m a bit zombied out.

Get Him to the Greek

A hilarious satire on the non-stop party lifestyle of a rock star. A record company intern must get a rock star from England to Los Angeles to get to a concert in time, but can’t keep the guy under control.POSITIVE: Much better than I expected. Consistently funny. I always enjoy imagining what it would be like to live like a rock star. Shows some genuine sadness behind the partying behavior. Also P. Diddy eats his own head. Yes, you read that correctly.NEGATIVE: Some scenes work better than others. Kind of a mixed bag.

The Karate Kid

Remake of the 1984 film of the same name. Boy learns karate to get respect from bullies. Except now, it’s kung fu.POSITIVE: I’m genuinely surprised. This is a faithful update to the original. It changes enough around that it could have easily gotten away without being labeled a “remake.” I was emotionally invested in Jaden Smith’s character. Stellar acting all around.NEGATIVE: The only problem is the title. As pointed out many times, it should have been called “The Kung Fu Kid”. It would have differentiated it from the original, yet reminded audiences of it at the same time.

Predators

People are dropped in a jungle and hunted by the alien predators, in this reboot/sequel or whatever, to the Predator franchise.POSITIVE: It’s the first Predator sequel to come close to matching the tone of the original. Brings it back to its jungle basics.NEGATIVE: Starts abruptly. Does nothing new or interesting. Adrien Brody is the Schwarzeneggar equivalent. Really?

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Scott Pilgrim has to fight seven evil exes in order to win his new girlfriend.POSITIVE: Amazingly entertaining! It breaks boundaries by throwing away logic and going for a live action video game style. There were tons of moments when I thought to myself “I’ve never seen THAT done before.”NEGATIVE: Style over story. I am not familiar with the source material, but I wasn’t emotionally invested in the plot in any way. Am I supposed to sympathize with some schmuck who cheats on his girlfriend?

I think Predators was really good. I loved the scene where the Yakuza guy fights the predator: sword vs. claws.
They really tried to set up a Samurai movie mood there and it totally worked out for me. Approach – Clash – Pause – Wind is blowing over the grass – and then you see who got injured. Fucking awesome.

Of course, it “stole” some elements from other movies. Pandorum, Cube, maybe even Jurassic Park.

PS:
Get him to the greek is actually a spin-off from the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I recommend that you watch Let Me In, the remake of Let The Right One In as I would like to hear your thoughts on the remake and also hear your opinions of the child actors in the film, Chloe Moretz (who also played Hit Girl in Kick-Ass, btw I want to hear your opinions on Hit Girl and the performance of Chloe Moretz in Kick-Ass as well) and Kodi Smit-McPhee

Well, In Clockwork Orange you are supposed to sympathize with Alex, and Alex is clearly the bad guy, And in Scarface and The Godfather too, you are supposed to like Tony, Vito and Michael.. so that’s nothing new.

Thanks for showing us the movies that you have seen this year!
Btw. You should make a Review Of Kubrick Films or a Harryhausen-A-Thon! That would be fucking Awesome!!!

“SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD
NEGATIVE: Style over story. I am not familiar with the source material, but I wasn’t emotionally invested in the plot in any way. Am I supposed to sympathize with some schmuck who cheats on his girlfriend?”

Yeah, I’ll talk about that before anyone flames you for it. The movie kinda blasts through the comics’ story at a crazy rate, and, as such, doesn’t go through a lot of important character moments (or back-story) in the comics, making it harder to sympathize with the characters in the movie. Sure, Scott was a bit of an asshole in the comics (especially considering some things you learn in the final volume), but he was more developed and that made him more likeable. Actually, everyone was more developed and likeable…. I mean, after seeing Kim in the movie, can you believe that she’s actually a REALLY important character in the comics?

Anyways, I can definitely understand why you couldn’t sympathize with the characters here. Me being a fan of the comics, I didn’t really care about the movie versions of the characters either, even the characters that I DID like in the comics (though I really like the movie anyways, such a blast to watch). I’d definitely suggest that you read the comics, they’re very entertaining and well written, and the characters are a lot more interesting.

Oh, and, if you liked the original Tron, check out Tron: Legacy, it’s a fun little popcorn flick.

When I saw it in theaters, it was just what I wanted. A Pixar film that is able to both entertain and move audiences at the same time. The makers of the movie did a great job creating a fitting finale to an already great trilogy of animated films! Nothing too negative to think of, but Pixar rarely fails to live up to anyone’s expectations resulting in an excellent legacy of animated films.

James, I know you have a dislike for CG, but I say give CG-animated films a chance to shine. The Pixar films are delightful with both story, characters, and animation. Even its competitor PDI/Dreamworks Animation have their own good amount of films most notably the Shrek films including their recently released final chapter Shrek Forever After. Other studios have recently banked on making good CG-animated films, but Pixar always come out on top! Enjoy!

I found Jesse Eisenberg’s fast talking rather appropriate. I don’t think he spoke like that because he was intelligent, I think it was more that he was a really unlikeable, unsympathising guy without much of a heart. He just kept that dry, fast voice around wherever… I didn’t mind it. I think it wouldn’t have worked as well if he spoke normally, personally. But I still respect your opinion.

The following films you saw which I’ve seen are The Wolfman, Iron Man 2, Inception, Harry Potter 7 Pt. I, Nightmare on Elm Street, Karate Kid, and Predators, and I find them pretty good. At least you didn’t see Skyline which I did.

Wow, I didn’t know you had time to watch this many movies. I like how even if you don’t like a movie, you’re respectful with your opinion and don’t feel the need to tear it a new one.

I should say that Mark Zuckerberg has Asperger’s Syndrome, and that’s why he talks the way he does. (Eisenberg nailed that in his portrayal.) As someone who has this condition myself, I could relate to his personality somewhat. I do wish more people would know about Asperger’s.

You know what James? I actually have the opposite problem: I barely EVER go to the movies anymore, so I have no problem remembering what movies I saw in theaters. in fact, I think there was only one movie I saw in theaters this year. and it was Toy Story 3, a movie you don’t seem to have seen yet. I greatly recommend it, it’s one of Pixar’s most dramatic and heart-wrenching films to date (and that’s saying something).

I’m also the other way around concerning Scott Pilgrim. I haven’t seen the movies, but I have read the books. and (in the books anyway) I don’t really think Scott did cheat. he just went out with Ramona before he ended his relationship with Knives, which I guess you could consider as cheating, but he tried to end it as soon as possible.

James your not the only person in the world who’s never logged onto Facebook. I personally never saw the point in making one so ive never logged on either. also thats too bad Harry Potter burned out on you. i just saw it last night and it was fine. a great movie in general. for once it did the book justice.

The most disappointing movie I’ve ever seen is Shutter Island. The ending felt more like a failed M. Night Shyamalan ending than something that would really shock and surprise you. It just sucked and ruined the whole impression of the film.

I’d rewatch Scott Pilgrim again. It’s the whole point that we’re watching Scott learning to become more mature as an adult in a fantastical way and learning to gain maturity and self respect while fighting for the love of his life. It’s a journey of adolescent self-discovery. Besides, cheating is one of the most immature acts a person can commit to say the least, and Scott becomes aware of that in the end. He’s just lucky he had two lives to do that while some people can’t figure it out in enough time with just one life. Just sayin’ though. I respect your opinion as well.

To be fair to Kevin Smith, he didn’t write Cop Out like he did his other films. He made that point as many times as could when promoting it. It’s like he knew the movie was going to be “bleh” and made sure to put it out there that he didn’t write it, he was just doing it to collect the paycheck.

Hey, James. In regards to Scott Pilgrim VS The World, you actually ARE supposed to sympathize with some shmuck who cheats on his girlfriend, the film just didn’t quite have enough time to give you enough reason to. As far as graphic novel series go, it’s pretty short at only 6 books, so give them a try some time. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

I never saw the wolfman or nightmare on elm street cus i knew they would both suck compared to the original(for nightmare on elm street, im talking about the first one, not the endless amount of sequals) like the reviews james, keep it up

I have something to add to the Expendables: While I also disliked the CG-Blood, the CG-Fire and the Shakycam, I also didn’t like the script, or at least some parts of it. The cameo of Willis was nice, but the cameo of Schwarzenegger was extremely pointless. We learn that he used to be part of Stallone’s team, but nothing ever comes from it. Of course, Schwarzenegger is pretty busy, governing California and shit, but he was just wasted in this movie.
Also, some scenes felt really rushed to me, and I was disappointed that we don’t learn much about the Expendables. The entire team, except Stallone, Statham and maybe Lundgren, lacked defining character in my opinion.

Otherwise, I have nothing to add since I didn’t see the other movies (I’m especially pissed off that I missed Machete).

@tonyaj420 Have you seen the original? Let The Right One In? I haven’t seen the remake, but the original is absolutely amazing.

I didn’t see very many movies this year, and I don’t think I saw one in theatres. I’ve been catching up with “the best of the year” on DVD, though. The Town was really goddamn good. Jeremy Renner deserves an Oscar or something, but he probably won’t get one.

It didn’t make it too clear in the movie, but in Scott Pilgrim, when Ramona invades Scott’s dreams to deliver packages, he becomes obsessed. He kinda forgets about Knives, and focuses on Ramona. In my opinion, it should have been split into two films (second one could have been “Vs. the Universe”?).

New Karate Kid wasn’t bad, but I was all set up for The Wolfman simply because the original was one of my favourite Universal monster films.
Alice in Wonderland was definitely nice show, but…yeah.
Expendables was fun, but not much more than that either.

Strangely, I’d been planning to watch Predators since June, but never got around to the actual deed.
Might just check out the Blu-Ray one of these days.

Actually James, I recall that they did use the Song War Machine in at one point in IM2. I can’t remember which one it was specifically, but they play the instrumental riff of that song, and I know it’s on the IM2 soundtrack.

I completely agree about The Social Network. It was a great movie, but geez. Was it really necessary for him to talk so fast to the point where you almost couldnt keep up? And I agree with almost all of your reviews except for one. Kick-Ass. While yes, it was pretty violent, but you should understand the source of it all. The graphic novel. If you thought the movie was bloody, then the comic would rank up there with Brain Dead, lol. I thought, if anything, it should have been a little more bloody to stay true to the comics. The movie may not be politically correct, especially with a 12 year old girl killing people left and right, but in todays age of how many grotesque horror films there are out there, I didnt find Kick-Ass all that offensive. Just saying, lol.

Don’t worry James, you’re not the only person in the world that had not personally logged into Facebook, i had not either, and I’m not thinking in doing it. I’m a huge fan of you, and i don’t usually comment at all at any website, but when i read that you had not logged into Facebook, it instantly made me want to make an account and comment something. I tought i was the only one in the world that doesn’t use facebook at all, but that’s glad to hear :). Keep it up James. Waiting for a new AVGN review.

Fast-paced drama about the creation of FaceBook and the legal disputes involved.
POSITIVE: I’m the only person in the world who has never once personally logged into Facebook, yet I still found the movie interesting.”

The Expendables: Nothing but an Action movie, and I didn’t expect anything more than that. I did hear some people say that Jason Statham shouldn’t be considered a legend. Why not?

The Social Network: I disagree about Eisenberg’s performance, if what I’ve heard is true. I’ve read that Eisenberg’s portrayal of the brilliant Makr Zuckerberg is dead-on. Maybe he actually talks like that. It is annoying. But, the real star of this movie is Andrew Garfield, no doubt about it.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1: I dug this movie, and it stays pretty close to the book, changing very few scenes. Most of the changes were welcomed, though.

Completely agree with you on Scott Pilgrim. Apparantly if your a fan of video games, action films and comic books you’re supposed to like the film. Thankfully, apart from Spoony, it seems a lot of the internet reviewers aren’t to big on it.

First of all: Happy New Year James!
Second: in my opinion you should really read the source material of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. It’s 6 books (graphic novels) alltogether, and sadly they tried to stuff all 6 of them into 1 movie. It would’ve been better in my opinion if they made 2 movies out of it. There had been a LOT of changes in the story, who talked to who, how the fights happened, etc. I’m a really big fan of the books, nonetheless, they managed to make an entertaining movie too, only you need to treat it as a different entity. Give the books a chance 😉

Agree about Kick Ass having some disturbing scenes (like the torture one) but I didn’t really see it as a negative. Rare for a movie to go there and not just be for pointless gore like Saw.

Glad to see someone admit that Scott Pilgrim isn’t some flawless piece of film making. Can’t have unlikeable characters and a meh story while still praising it as the new wave of action film making because it has fights that resemble a video game (which in itself was a determent, imo. If I wanna see over the top video game violence, I’ll play a video game.)

Lastly, loved Pedators. Although Adrian Brody isn’t the first name to come to mind as Arnold 2.0, he does a pretty good job at it. He must have worked out for months to get in shape for that role.

Addendum: The pacing in Harry Potter was terrible. They had so many filler scenes that added nothing but run-time. Unless part 2 brings a lot to the table, it seems like this movie didn’t need to be split into 2 parts.